a personal account

Monthly Archives: November 2016

Hello good woodland people just a note about this Wednesday 30th As we are in such a public spot we need to be on the Ball with our H&S cos we dont want angry letters .

I want to thank ENGLISH HERITAGE for inviting Scarborough ConVols to help with this important and prestigious task and we look forward to its completion with out serious incident

We will be working on the south side of the castle, thinning the trees back and cutting back the Black thorn . For ease I am going to use bullet points.

WE ARE ALL RESPONSIBLE FOR EACH OTHER.

“ WORK SAFELY”

NO Starting before we are all aware of what other members are doing and have had H&S briefing

HIGH VIZ to be worn at all time while working

EVERYONE must have appropriate safety clothing.

Those that are using chainsaws MUST have FULL PPE other wise you will be asked not to use the saws

All tools to be ready for use ,checked for faults,damage and fuelled.

All chainsaw operators to work at SAFE intervals.

One qualified chainsaw operator will at all times be responsible for safety and control All activitys ( this task will be rotated each hour ) . The Volunteers MUST accept H&S instructions from the lead operator at ALL times.

The lead operator is in charge and that person has the right and responsibility to halt working until such times it is safe.

NO ONE is to approach a chainsaw operator unless its from the front or while the saw is in operation

Those not cutting have equal responsibility for safety and must stay alert for Danger.

EVER ONE will keep a safe working distance from those felling at least TWO tree lengths.

We will challenge( appropriately ) Volunteers and members of the public if H&S rules are been breached or are about to be.

ALL PETS MUST BE UNDER CONTROL

IF ITS NOT SAFE STOP

SAFETY FIRST AT ALL TIMES

We will be working over the full length of the south wall moving from the path up the slope cutting back the undergrowth and trees from the bank. The Blackthorn will of cause come back in the spring and some of the felled trees will regrow,so fear not we are not taking away any homes for wild life.

Well another week is here and we are working at Throxenby Mere repairing the Boardwalk.again. This is a Health and Safety issue so we need to crack on and make it safe for public access. This is a difficult task as the walk way is over wetland so be prepared to get wet lol

Like this:

It was a cold start to the day for the ConVols but after a slow start we got going and did a fantastic job of clearing the self seeded Sycamore. As you can see the gate way is now clear and the Castle walls can be seen for the fist time in a long time. Actually Sycamore is a good tree to grow in these exposed spots and thrives in the harsh conditions, unfortunately because of the damage done by tree roots , members of the public are using the cover of the trees to clime up onto the walls and certain other antisocial behaviour. So the decision was made by English Heritage /SBC to remove the trees closest to the wall.This will leave a wild life space and hopefully cure the problem of damage to the fabric of the castle